So many cameras to choose from but where do we start? I became interested in photography a few years ago and have been luckily enough over the years to take a few amazing pictures. I see so many people spending fortunes on tackle but then either have very cheap and nasty cameras not up to the job or no camera whatsoever. Imagine catching the fish of a life time and not even having a camera to get a decent photo.

Personally I think it has never been all about the camera. It's always been about seeing something and knowing how you want it to look.

Anyone can take a picture, it does not always come down to the camera but it does take someone with a good eye to detail to focus and imagine how it will look on a real photo before the shot is taken.

The main thing to remember is to have fully charged batteries and an empty flash card. There is nothing worse than going to take a shot and finding that the card is full of shots you don’t really want to lose or worse still, the camera will not turn on as it has no battery power.

When taking a shot choose the background wisely as this can distract from the final image you are taking.

If you are taking serious nature shots, especially near water, polarising filters are a must.

Firstly I will talk about cameras, my personal choices, best for use when fishing. From as far back as I can remember, my first camera was a cheap black kodac film camera. I managed a few good pictures and would then always take the film into the shop for processing. How times change with technology moving on. My first real half decent camera was a Canon A80 Powershot, costing me around £180 at the time brand new from Jessops. This was an excellent camera for not only taking fishing photos but also family and everyday shots. It was particularly good for fishing as it had an inbuilt timer also a screen which you could flip out and twist right round facing the other way. This allowed me to set the camera up on a tripod or bank stick, set the timer and still see myself in the flip out screen, this made taking perfect pictures very easy. The camera lasted me quite a good few years before the battery cover cracked during an accidental drop on the floor. After it dropped the image in the viewfinder started going a bit fuzzy on the small LCD screen. I then upgraded to the next model the Canon Powershot A95. I managed to buy a good second hand model from Ebay for £52. I am still using this camera and it is still taking very good shots.

See below pic of the A95 Powershot:-

You can buy a bank stick adaptor for around £5 off Ebay which allows you to screw your camera onto a bank stick. Very cheap and handy to have.

See pic below:-

So for recommendation of a camera to use whilst fishing I would have to say any of the Canon Powershot models which have the timer and flip out screen. The G5 and G7 models are also very nice with higher megapixel but a bit more pricy.

Digital SLR’s

Fishing and photography compliment each other very well. I have many a time took my best camera along whilst doing a reccy on a new fishery and managed to get some nice shots of fish feeding and nice swims to fish . Dawn and dusk are very good times to get some stunning shots by the water with the sky being all different colours. I have previously owned a Canon EOS 400D which was a great SLR camera for being introduced to SLR photography. I am currently saving up for a Canon EOS 7D with the 15-85mm lens which is my dream camera. It is expensive I know but what a camera. Not as expensive as the 1D or the 5D but has just as much features. Can’t wait.

See below pics of the awesome EOS 7D

Below is some info on the 7D which you may find useful if you take your photography seriously or you have some spare cash for a very decent SLR.

I would suggest use your cheaper camera when you are actually fishing and save your SLR for best. You don’t want to get all fishy hands over your expensive SLR. I normally take my SLR to the lake or river when friends are fishing or if I need to take some real good shots.